Clinical Usefulness of Stroke Unit : The comparison of In-hospital Treatment Outcomes between Stroke Unit and General Ward cares

Background : Many studies have demonstrated the usefulness of the coordinated interdisciplinary stroke unit(SU) care over conventional treatment of stroke patients on general wards(GW). Stroke is the leading cause of death in Koea. However, Managements are quite diverse by different professionals and facilities. We present how the acute SU in the Yonsei University Medical Center has been organized and operates, and also attempted to demonstrate the usefulness of SU care. Methods : Patients who admitted to SU from December 2002 to June 2003 were subjected to analyses. As a control group, those who had admitted to GW during the same month-period of 2001~2002 were selected. Results : During the six-month period, 149 patients admitted to SU and 152 in GW because of acute cerebral infarctions(